Shot fugitive denies threatening police

Wanted man Dwayne Critchlow, who was on Friday shot by police, is claiming that he was shot without reason and knows nothing of the allegations against him.

Police, in a statement on Friday, said that Critchlow was wanted in relation to an incident that took place during the month of May 2011, when it is alleged that, armed with a firearm, he threatened a police officer at Plaisance.

The statement further said that on seeing the police patrol, Critchlow proceeded to run and was pursued by the ranks, during which time he pulled out a firearm and discharged rounds at the ranks who returned fire.

Speaking from his hospital bed in the Male Surgical Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), Critchlow related that about eight years back he was incarcerated for murder, but he was later acquitted when the charge was withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The wounded man said that since then, he has been a free man, but a while back accusations started flying in his direction that he was involved in some shootings with Tyrone ‘Cobra’ Rowe. The latter is currently in prison, and it was there that Critchlow said he met Cobra. However, he stated, at the time of the shootings he has been accused of, he had been in Bartica, and his doctor had given a statement to the police in support of his alibi.

Critchlow recalled that on Friday he was on his way to visit his girlfriend, when an officer from the patrol van, which was in the vicinity of Brusche Dam, Buxton, who knew him and with whom he claims he had a past grievance, pointed him out.

He said the van then reversed and the officers began firing shots at him, which prompted him to run.

It was during this time, he said, that he was shot in the left arm, after which he attempted to jump a fence, but instead ended up cutting his right palm.

The gunshot he received, Critchlow said, “buss up me bones [in his left hand]” and he now has to wear a steel clamp to hold them together.